DOCUMENT: Crime

FBI's Ricin Alert A Bit Tardy?

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FBI's Ricin Alert A Bit Tardy?

A how-to terrorism manual used by disciples of Osama bin Laden includes a chapter containing instructions on how to manufacture ricin, the toxin found this week in London by anti-terrorism police. In response to the British discovery, the FBI today (1/10) issued an alert to U.S. law enforcement agencies describing the effects of ricin, which the bureau noted "would be most effective in an assassination by injection or as a food contaminant." The poison could also be "used in a terrorist operation to contaminate closed ventilation systems (e.g. heaters or air conditioners), drinking water, lakes, rivers and food supplies," the FBI stated. The bureau's ricin warning comes two years after the agency obtained a copy of "Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants," a 180-page volume offering jihad members guidance on subjects such as assassination, forging documents, and preparing poisons. Included in the manual's 18 chapters is a section titled "Assassinations Using Poisons And Cold Steel," which you'll find below. (8 pages)